Photo from comicvine.com.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Dwayne McDuffie, a veteran of the comic books and animation industries, died today of unexpected complications from a surgical procedure performed last night.

McDuffie is arguably best known as the founder of Milestone Media, a company that strived to bring diversity to the world of comic books. With Milestone, McDuffie was involved in creating numerous characters, including Hardware, Icon and Static. Static received his own animated series in 2000. This year, the character will star in his own ongoing series through DC Comics.

McDuffie wrote DC’s animated All Star Superman movie, which was released today. In addition, he was a story editor on Justice League Unlimited, and also worked on the Ben 10 cartoons.

McDuffie’s comic book credits include runs on Fantastic Four, Justice League, as well as the cult favorite Damage Control. In 1989, he famously submitted a pitch for a parody entitled Teenage Negro Ninja Thrashers, which played on the portrayal of black characters in comic books.

Source: AVClub.com